Trabi/IFA Chat Forum

Um. No, ..Get a battery charger and put the leads on and charge it on a moderate charge overnight, Don't try charging it off another car unless you are actually jump starting it . If you have not got a garage , take the battery off and charge it at home.

Okay thanks for clarifying that. I know it might seem like a common knowledge sort of thing but I just wanted to be sure.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if there's a source in the U.S. to order the brushes I might need for the alternator? Or is Trabant welt/defining my only options?

Alternator brushes are pretty generic and pretty easy to cut to shape.
But it's much easier to just order some from TrabantWelt. Inspect the slip rings also. Be careful, as the slip rings are graphite and pretty fragile.

Okay thanks for letting me know. I'll try to order them and get on that soon.

I was going to suggest checking the fuel flow, because mine will start backfiring up hills/full throttle if the filter cloggs up but since you have already done that another thing that could cause this is the breaker plate screws.

One day mine started doing this in 3rd gear. Turns out the breaker plate screws vibrated loose so the timing was all over the place. I put some Nord-Locks underneath them.

Funny that a restricted fuel filter and a loose breaker plate will cause the same effect. Backfiring/puffs of blue smoke.

By the way, your car is a 6V model, I would not recommend jump starting it off another car with a 12V system.

Thanks for the advice. I checked the breaker plate and made sure the screws are secure. The car seems to be running a bit better now, with less of the charging light going on at least. However I do believe my trabant is a 12V system.

My charging light does weird stuff. I don't know wheather to believe it or ignore it!

Mine has a 6V generator. My light glows more when the engine is cold or first started. The light will glow brighter the faster I rev the engine! But usually only in 1st and 2nd gears. Under cruise in 4th or after the engine has been run for awhile will the light stay off or barely glow.

Now figure this one out. At idle I get around 6.2 volts which is battery voltage but no charge light. If I rev the engine up I get around 7.4 volts, the charge light barely glows. Just the opposite as I would expect.

I have run the car with the headlamps on up to 20 miles like this and have yet to experience a flat battery. I have also been driving the car to work so in the mornings the headlamps are on for 8 miles.

So the light glowing indicating my electrical system is pulling more power than the generator is producing must be a false indication of what's really happening.

Well with all of that in mind, I think I'll start off with driving local/short distances and see how the charging light behaves. I ordered new brushes and bearings for the alternator so either I'll replace them once the parts arrive or I'll hold off on it if the car is still running well enough.